Decision Making & What to Wear?

I realised that I started, unconsciously, applying my professional decision making techniques to personal choices in fashion.

I have never been a big fashion follower, and while doing a spring clear I noticed that my wardrobe became very simplified. I prefer classic, timeless pieces. No patterns, no special materials, no bright colours, no white. I like dresses. All of my trousers and skirts are pretty much in the same colour: black or navy. I only have shoes in 3 colours: black, nude and grey.

Doesn’t sound too exciting – but hey – whatever I grab from my wardrobe it all fits together. There is no extra thinking required, especially at those difficult morning hours. And in case I am suddenly unable to even select which top should go with which bottoms, I just grab a dress: all in one piece, no hassle.

I’ve only realised what I had been doing when I read Anna Vital’s experiment. Anna is the co-founder of Funders and Founders and amazing infographic creator. I bet you’ve heard about her before. The experiment, if I remember well, was to wear the same black dress for 60 days – make it her uniform to save time on selecting what to wear. Then it clicked, my wardrobe is my ‘black dress’. I have minimised the number of choices available to make the decision making process as quick as possible. It works efficiently, but the chances are if you are a guy you probably still don’t understand what I’m talking about 😉 The lesson here is to apply the same technique to all other part of life: eliminate unnecessary choices and ones that overcomplicate the situation, simplify,  make quick decisions and move on.

 

High-Potential Women = Underutilized Talent?

I have just read report from Catalyst about ‘Underutilized Talent of  High-Potential Women in Europe’. I wanted to get your thoughts on it…

I’m embedding the infographic with the key stats. Basically, what it says is that women despite trying harder (seeking out mentors, actively developing their skills, finding ways to advance their careers) still perform way worse than men in terms of progression of their career, responsibilities and salary of course. Now – it doesn’t really make much sense. Shouldn’t input = output?

Well seams like it isn’t all so simple.. But why?

• Is it because women are less ambitious? They care about careers less than men? Less naturally driven?
• Is it because they’re think about having a family early and pull back on work commitments, just in case, ahead of the time?
• Do they not ‘lean in’ enough? Not confident to stand up, speak up, ask for promotion?

I don’t know answers to any of those questions. I aspire to be a ‘high-potential woman’ and so are most of my girlfriends. In all fairness, I am not sure how reliable this survey is, considering that only 124 women were interviewed compared to 526 men.

Anyways – look forward to your thoughts and comments!